Soil Projects > SoCo

SoCo: Sustainable Agriculture and Soil Conservation

The European Parliament has requested the European Commission to carry out a study
on Sustainable Agriculture and Soil Conservation. Two Directorates of the EC
are involved in this project: DG Agriculture and DG Joint Research Centre.

The JRC participates in the project with two institutes: Institute for Environment
and Sustainability (IES: Land Management and Natural Hazards Unit and the Rural,
Water and Ecosystem Resources Unit) and Institute for Prospective Technological
Studies (IPTS- Agriculture and Life Sciences in the Economy Unit) in Seville.

The Soil Action of the Land Management and Natural Hazards Unit is in charge
to make an assessment of the agricultural soil degradation problems and the
corresponding soil conservation practices. The assessment on soil degradation
will be done according to the threats identified in the Soil
strategy (COM (2006) 231). Several case studies will be set allover Europe
with the specific aim of evaluating the cost effectiveness of the applied agri-environmental
measures in relation to soil conservation.

The project has started in 2007 and is finalized in 2009. Following the links below, you may find information about:

Contact Points

Project Background

Agriculture, cultivating a substantial proportion of the European land, plays an important role in maintaining natural resources and cultural landscapes as a precondition for other human activities in rural areas. However, unsustainable agriculture practices and land use would have adverse impacts on natural resources (soil, water, biodiversity, etc…).

The European Council adopted a Strategy for Integrating Environmental Concerns into the Common Agricultural Policy (the so-called "Cardiff process") in 1999. The CAP reforms of 1999 and 2003 and the new Rural Development Policy adopted in 2005 are the major steps on this way.
The agri-environmental measures of the rural development policy represent the core instruments for the integration of environmental concerns in CAP. Cross-compliance, and in particular the provisions for maintaining agricultural land in good agricultural and environmental condition, can also play a positive role for soil conservation.

In parallel, in the area of EU environmental policy, the Soil Thematic Strategy and the associated proposal for a Soil Framework Directive encourage Member States to develop synergies with existing policies.

In 2007, the European Parliament requested the European Commission to carry out a project on "Sustainable Agriculture and Soil Conservation through simplified cultivation techniques". The European Parliament states that "in Europe, soil degradation and erosion is probably the most significant environmental problem" and underlines the importance of conservation agriculture being a "set of soil management practices which minimise alteration of the composition, structure and natural biodiversity of soil, safeguarding it against erosion and degradation".

While stating that "Rural development planning action for 2007 to 2013 affords a unique opportunity to make headway with these techniques", the European Parliament underlines that the project should "foster knowledge of these techniques so that future European legislation can be easily applied". As a fundamental component, the project is meant to cover know-how dissemination activities.